Pavement marker



Nov. 3, 1931. 'M. E. HARTZLER ET AL 1, 0,

PAVEMENT MARKER Filed July 5. 1928 7 WWW/l Ill/"r 7 1N VENTORS :Patentecl Nov. 3, @1931 v MELVIN E. nAR rzLER; or now ERS' enovn, Ann EDGAR r. ROMILLY, or CHICAGO, rumors:-

' PAVEMENT: MARKER application cleanl 5, 1928. Serial Ilo..290,32l.

The present invention relates to pavement markersof the kind that are set in the pavelnent'to mark of? lines-and Zo'nesfor use in controlling pedestrianv andvehicle traffic upon 6 highways andcity streets. -'Qne obj ectof the Y invention is to provide a marker which will not materially interfere with the smooth sur face 'ofthe pavement and yet will' possess a' maximum of visibility during all. conditions of service; Another object is to produce a marker which will adhere tothe surface of the'pavement with a maximum adhesion in addition to the holding force exerted by the anchorage ofthemarker to the pavement."

' Another object is to produce ainarker of thisclass which will have amaximum cushioning action to both the downward and .lateral blows of traflic passing over it. Another object is'to produce a marker which will be durable and serviceable, economical to manu facture, and easy to install and maintain in eflicient condition. i I V lVith these objects in view, we preferably construct the'marker intheform of a large button having a rubber face. The rubber is in the form of an envelope or covering upon the head of a supportingbody' or base and" the latter includes a stem or shank- Which depends from the underside of the head and serves as part of a connecting means by which the marker is anchored to the pavement;

. Ordinarily the stem eirtends into a hole in the pavement and is screwed home into ananchored nut at the" bottom of the hole: The

rubber envelope is curved on its upper face and istapereddown at periphery to a thin edge so as not to'present a serious or objectionable obstacle to trafiic. The rubber is 1 firmly secured to'thelbase'by vulcanization for other suitable'process or means. The thin peripheral lip alsofclosely fits irregularities in the surfaceof'fthe. avement. The same 7 close adhesion of the rubber rim to the paveinent' furnishes a water seal and thus prolongs 1 I the] life of the marker by preventing the seep- V age'of waterto its under surface. Bycusing cement, theadhesion of'the markerto the pavement may be greatly increased. 1' Likewise, concentric ribs on the under side of the 5? rubber envelope engagethe pavement and v i F ICE]? increase the cushioning action and, hence the suctionjbetween the two and consequently in crease theadhesion of the marker to the pavement; The suction action over the greater portion oftheunder surface maybe slight, but it will occur whenever a downward movement of the head is followed by an upward movement, provided of course there is a good seal between-the pavement and the edge of the rubber envelope. "Such suction producing movements of the whole head may occur at times by reason of the heavy blows oftraffic andat other times they may result from expansion of the metal parts of the marker under temperature variations But'in addition to this generalmovement of the body, as a whole, itis clear that almost every blow-of trafiic'will press the periphery of the rubber "envelope down and this will be followed,

when time between blows will permit it, by a tendency of the rubberto return to its initial position. Such return, whether. partial or complete, will produce suction action at the periphery, provided of course as before that there is a good seal at the peripheral ledgeofthe marker. The rubber is given a chrome orange color which renders the marker most easily discernibleunder the variable conditions of weather and service. By using this color we believe we have a maximum visibility at alltimes. The rubber has high wearing properties and hence its use increases the life of our marker over mere metal markers such as have been .proposed heretofore.

With these general observations,'we may pass to a consideration of a fullerdisclosure ofthe inventiun set forth in the following detailed description and accompanying drawings. The scope of the invention will be I particularly pointed out in the appended claims; 3 H 7 In said drawings, Fig. 1 is a vertical section of amarker constructed in accordance with'the present invention and shown loosely seated in the pavement; Fig. 2 is' a top plan view of the. marker; Fig. 3 is a bottom plan viewoof the same; and Fig. 4 is a view simi- Y pavement, Figs. 2 and 3 being onareduced scaleI These figures illustrate the preferred embodiment of the invention. Throughout these views like characters refer to like parts.

1 Referring to the drawings in detail, A designates the main supporting member orbase of the marker.

dislt-like head 21 and a stem or shank 22.

In the present'instanceythe head 21 and the stem 22 are integral and constitute a single. metal: casting, cast iron or.v cast'steel; being. preferably employed; The head 21 1s c1 rcu-- -i' law in outline and preferably sllghtly; conical, the sides of the cone extending from the apex 22 to points 23 adjacent to the periphery.

Obviously, the outline of the head may take. other forms than the. circle but-many event the form is preferably that of a. plane'figure. The portion of the upper surface. outward ot the points. 23 curves. downf to =meet. the

under. surfaceof the head. and thus form a .finishededge; "The .portionof the-head. whlch extendsbeyond the f'stem; or h i1b,22..consti.-

Preferably the. ent head fill-land the. under side. ot the flange 24 tut-es in reality flange 2.4;. This is" adapted" to overliethe pavement 25 -wh1le-.- the' stem.22.isadapted to enter a hole or opening 26" inthe pavement.

f6- u pper l face of ziriei'nclosed' inan: envelope B of rubber. The uppersurface of'tli'e rubber is curved and has a substantial. thickness so. as to provide agood. wearing facecapable of use for along period ofyears. this connection. it may be pointed. out. that a rubber facing such as we employ will stand-111p wellas apaving surface This has beenfestablishedby certa-in expenienceswith. rubber surfaced pavementsinEngland. The resiliency of; this envelope. takes 'up' the shock of the overit andtransmits but little shocln to the supporting member. and anchorage andthus the marker. remains. tight in the pavement a great. length of; time as well .as benig. long lived inwearing qualities.

. -The. envelop}? Bdoes no require the same e under side off the fianger2 l thickness on t h h as itdoes on the upper. or wearmg. side. But tlieporti'on on the under side preferably has thereona; plurality of concentricribs. 28

formed concentrically with the hub22. The

periphery of" thelenvelope Bi'also curves downward to provide a downwardly and outwardly extending lip-.29. 'This lipa tends alL the way around the marker and is relatively. thin and flexible and consequently conforms itself readily to'irregu'larities in the surface" of the pavement 25. In formingzthis lip we preferably curve t'hef 'under .1 side of the" lip 29 outward and downward the same as] the upper side of the lip, "This gives thelip a downwardlyinclined position when it free, and the marher'is not. in final position upon the pavement. When the lat ter position is reached then the; lip flattens This member comprises a out more or less; in the manner illustrated in Fig. 4. v

At the time the marker is being screwedhome into its final position, the ribs 28 and the lip 29 first engage the pavement surface and then-upon, further screwing will drive out moreor lessof the entrapped air just as a suction cup will drive out air when pressed against a smooth surface. This, of itself,

produces no suction,. but any subsequent movement of the marker head or portions'of away from the pavement will produce suction. Such upward movement of the head,

is the up and down movement of the. outer i edge of the envelope of-rubber. .The'peripheral. portion ofthis envelope beyond the inetalhead' 21' terminating. in theflip. 29 isv free to rise and fall under the blows of 2a traific- Practicallyevery such blow will depress thisv free. peripheral portion. of the rubber. at one point, Oran-other, and in response to each blow the rubber. returns wholly or partiall'y'to its normal position 33:5

andthefrepeatedblows and returns bring aboutsome suction; The compressing movement drives out more or less of'tlie entrapped airwhi'ch is present in thespace above the pavement between the outermost rib 28 and the lip 29, and the return movement of this portion of the envelope produces suctionat the periphery. Of course all this action is dependent upon there being a close fit between the lip '29 andthe pavement. But the 1; r

lip is tapered down and outward just for purpose. .It normally reaches to or a little beyond the plane of the'lower ends of the ribs28to insure this result. This suction, whether of the head as a whole or. of

just the periphery of the envelope, is, even though, slight, a force acting in the. right direction. It is a force which tends to hold the marker to the pavement, rather thanto eject it fromit. And the peripheral suction 11:

also serves to keep the peripheral edgeofi the rubber envelope from turning. up .under the strains and blows. of service. I

The envelope B also .eferablyincloses' a portion. of. the stem 22-"as indicated at the point 30. 'Obviously in practice the extent of'theenvelope on the under sideof the head '21 and along the stem 22 maybe varied without departing from the scope of'our inven tion. Where the same extends over the-bot Iii? tomthe flange 24and then down over a portion of the shank 22 it cooperates with. the

'more or less irregular edge offthe pavement surround ng the holev 26 to fornia second water seal between the'pavement and: the i I 5 should show up clearly on the pavement when the latter is wet and the marker is more or .markeii The-rubberat this point also pro- ,vides-a cushion between the head A andthe pavement25. Of-course the effectiveness of the seal and cushion thus produced about the hole'26 depends upon the care with which the hole 26 iscut in the concrete or other material of the. pavement. The fit mustvbe close enough to permit-the rubber to firmly engage the: paving material about the/hole,

otherwise no seal or cushion will result, Obviously, the marker maybe used either with or without this care and theresulting v advantages.

rfirnily to the supporting member A by first The rubber'envelope B is made tonadhere sand-blasting the member and then prefer- "ably also copper-coating the same. lVhen this is done then the rubber is filledinto molds about the head A and subsequently pressure and heat are applied tofir nly forcethe rubberinto contact with'the member A and to vulcanize the rubber. The rubber is a high grade resilient i product and is preferably orange in color. The latter iis produced by vary in compositionbutL-it is desirable to have a high grade rubber" which will withstand traffic wear'for a number. of years. a This enablesthe envelope to be thin enough an the upper face of the basemember A to produce a minimum of difference in elevation betweenthe top of the markerand the pave- ":ment. Ha ving'the'rubber of a h gh grade the enables edgev which constitutes this lip will not then readily wear out, but will last .for a long time, VThe color of the envelope, of course,

might be varied, but we believe that the "chrome orange has been found :by'test to'be thee one possessing the greatest'visibility in all conditions of weather. This coloi', too,

less obscured by the dirt of the road.

Y The anchorage may vary considerably in practice. A simple form'of anchoring device is illustrated; This includes a-n'anchor bolt 31 screwed into a threadedhole tapped into the-under side of the stein 22; The lower end of the bolt. 31 is threaded into a nut 32.

The latter is positioned at thebottomof a hole 33 in the pavement and is held therein by a packing 34. The hole 33 is somewhat be done before the bolt 31 is screwed into it. @The packing 3% is ordinarily lead and the irregular outer surface of the nut 32 prevents its withdrawal when-once the packing is completely in place. rOrdinarily, in as sembling the parts, the nut is first positioned atthe bottom of the hole 33 and securely packed, then the marker with the anchor bolt 31 inplace in the stem 22 is screwed into the nut 34. The parts are at first brought into the position illustrated in Fig. 1, and then as the marker is screwed home the parts are moved to the position shown in Fig. 4. The earlypart of thescrewing operation may be performed by hand, but later on it may be necessary to employ a special tool for holding the marker and turning it to complete the setting of the same in the pavement A tool having a suction head to fit the upper face of the marker has been proposed for this purpose. I

In carrying out the invention it is clear that difl'erenttypes of heads andstems may be' employed without departing from the spiritand scope of the invention. In some instances, too, the rubber envelopes may not completely cover the upper faces of the heads becausecf the ways einployedin securing the heads to the pavement. Hence, in the claims we have included the word substantially when definingthisfeature in order to cover obvious modifications of the preferredzstruo ,ture, Still other changes will occur to" work ers in thisart.

' In view-of these facts, we do not wish to be'liniited to the exact details illustrated and described but aim to cover all alterations and modifications which rightly come within the scope of our invention, by the terms of the appended claims. I i

What we claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is: 1'. A pavement marker of the class described comprising a head, a stem extending downward from said head, and an envelope of rubber covering substantially the entire top. of said head and extending outwardly over its periphery and back over its under surface toward said stem, the under face of that portion of the envelope which lies directly beneath saidhead being provided with elevations and depressions constituting cushioning means,

" I 2; A pavement marker of the class de scribed comprising a head, a stem extending downward from said head, and an envelope of rubber covering substantially the entire top of said head and extending outwardover its periphery and backover its under surface toward said stem, the under face of that portion ofthe envelope which lies directly beneath said head being provided withele-vations and depressions constituting cushioning means, and the peripheral portion of said envelope out beyond said cushioning means forming a thin peripheral lip normally extending outward and downward and operative to closely fit irregularities in the pavement and to make a good seal with the same.

3. A pavement marker of the classdes scribed: comprising a head, a stem extending downward from said head, and an envelope of rubber covering substantially'the entire top of said head and extending outward over its periphery andback over its under surface towards saidstem, the under surface of that portion of the envelope which lies directly beneath said head being formed with .a plurality of upstanding ribs concentric with said; stem, said ribs and the depressions-between them constituting cushioning means. 4'. A pavement marker of the class described comprising a head, a stem extending downward from said head, and an envelope of rubber coveringsubstantially the ent1re top of said head and extendingoutward over its periphery and back over its, under surface towards saidi stem, the under surface of the portion of the envelope which lies directly beneath'saidhead being formed with a pluralityof upstanding ribs concentric with said stem, said ribs and the depressions between themconstituting cushioning means, andthe peripheral edge of said envelope out beyond [said ribs being a thin lip normally extendingoutward and downward and operative to fitirregularities inthe pavement and to-mako f a goodseal with the same. I

5. A pavement marker of the class scribed comprising a head, a stem extending downward from said .head,'an envelope of rubber'covering substantially the entire top of said, head and extending outward over itsiperiphery to form a peripheral lip and back over a portion of its under side to form a; cushion underneath a portion of the under sideof said envelope adjacent to the periphery ofsai'dl head having a pavement-engaging :upstanding rib' concentric with: said-stem,

said: peripheral lip being thin at its outer edge-and. normally extending outward and downward and operating to fit irregularities in" the pavement and to make agood seal W said plane being with the same,said rib and lip normally terminating in substantially the sameplane, perpendicular to the axis ot'said stem; i '6. A pavement marker of the class-dc scribed comprising a head, a stem extending downward; from said head, and an envelope of rubber covering; substantially the entlre topiofsaid head and extending outward beyond its periphery to form aperipheral lip and back over a portion of its under surface to iorma cu'shionunderneath, a portion ofthe envelope beneath said head being provided with an annular pavement-en- I gaging elevation and outward thereof with an annular depression, said depression be- 37. A pavement marker-fthe class de-. scribed comprlslng ahead, a stem extendmg downward from sald head,-and an envelope of rubber covering substantiallythe entire s of said stem. V

" 8. A pavement marker nf-the class de- 7,

scribed comprising a head, a stem'extending downward fIOIllSflltl head, and an envelope otrubber coveringsubstantially the entire top o'fsaid head and extending outwardbeyond its periphery to form a peripheral lip and back far enough to engage'flthe under side of the peripheral edge-otcsaid head, toe portion thus engaging said-under side forming an annular elevation separated from said lip by a depression, said peripheral lip being thin at its outer edge and normally extending outward and downward from the Q periphery of said head and operating to closely fit irregularities in the pavement' and to make a-good seal with the same;

9. pavement markerofthplass described comprising a relatively fiat head, a downwardly extending stem secnredat its upper end to'said head against relative up and down movement, and a single envelope M of rubber of the same quality-throughout substantially enclosing said head and having an outwardly extending pavement-engaging peripheral hp extending entirely beyond the periphery of said head and a pavement-engaging rib separated from said lip by a depression, said rib, lip and depression c0- operating withthe surface of the pavement to establish good contact 'betweensaid lip and pavement; I

In testimony whereof we hereuntoisub scribe our names this Qndday of July, 1928. M MELVIN E: HARTZLER.

' EDGAR- P; ROMILLY. I

ing just inward of said lip, said peripheral v v lip being thinat its outer edge and normally extending outward-L and downward from the perlphery of said headand operating to closely fit lrregularities in the pavement and to make agood seal with the same.

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